


Memento Mori

by anne_moon



Category: Shiki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Anime, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Falling In Love, Mad Scientists, Manga, Muder, Murder Mystery, Unrequited Love, Vampires, Werewolves, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29184504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anne_moon/pseuds/anne_moon
Summary: Sotoba is a boring and isolated village in the mountains, with only 1300 residents. No one would've ever thought something like this could happen here, in this place forgotten by God. Still, soon after the Kirishiki family moves in, people begin to die mysteriously. The chief doctor Toshio Ozaki and the apprentice monk Seishin Muroi run their own investigation, while one of the nurses at the hospital tries to help them by reaching out to an old friend.
Relationships: Toshio Ozaki/OC Ozaki Toshio/OC Tatsumi/OC
Kudos: 2





	1. hikari ; the first stranger

Hikari Ayame arrived in Sotoba.

She passed the dull sign and stopped for a few seconds to reread the Japanese characters. After five years in America, it felt strange to see anything written in Hiragana. Then she pressed the acceleration again and followed the dusty road.

There wasn't much to see here.

On her right and left, cows, horses, and goats were grazing on the endless green field. People's houses were dispersed and modest. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky and the sun was shining so bright, Hikari could barely see the road — or breathe properly.

Still, this place is not what it seems, Hikari told herself. People here are dying from an undiscovered virus. Who knows what medical discovery lies ahead of me?

There were no people or cars on the road, so she thrust the acceleration even more. If she hadn't made any car accident in New York, she clearly wasn't going to have one in this corner of the Earth forgotten by God.

Then a boy on a bicycle appeared before her and she almost flew through the windshield when the car stopped. The sound of the breaks deafened them both. One cow turned its head brown in their direction.

Hikari unfastened her seatbelt and jumped out of the car. The boy seemed to be around sixteen or seventeen years old. He was dressed for school — black trousers, a white shirt, and a checkered tie. His purple hair seemed to had been through a tornado or the hands of Lady Gaga's hairstylist. Did people from this village even know who Lady Gaga is?

'Hey! Are you mad? I could've killed you!'

'I'm sorry,' he replied. 'I wasn't paying attention. You don't see a lot of cars here.'

He paused and his purple eyes gleamed. He studied the black Maserati.

'Neither visitors. Who are you?'

'I'm a biologist. Retsuko — you must know her, one of the nurses at the hospital — called me to come here for a few days.'

He gasped.

'Are you here to investigate the deaths?'

She nodded.

'Aren't you a little too young to pick up this job?'

Hikari frowned. Indeed, it felt good for her to be considered younger than she truly was. People always thought she was a teenager or that she had just finished college. But at one point it became annoying.

'You'd better be more respectful, kid,' she reproached with the best embittered old lady voice she could do. She knew very well the Japanese put a strong accent on discipline and respect. That was one of the reasons she had fled. 'I'm 27, so I think I'm old enough to handle my own job.'

The boy's eyes focused on the rocks from the ground.

'You're right, I'm sorry. Again.'

They stood there five seconds in awkward silence. Neither of them knew if it would be polite to just leave. It seemed like the boy had a lot to say, though.

'Well, you'll better be cautious,' he finally said. 'Strange things do happen here.'

A cold breeze scattered Hikari's long pink hair. She felt more threatened than warned.

'Thank you... but, if you want to help me, could you show me which direction the hospital is in? I'm feeling lost here.'

He smiled bitterly.

'Yeah, I can relate. I hate this place. All you have to do is to follow this road. At some point, you'll see the village center, if I can call it that way. The hospital is on the left, right before the entrance.'

'Thanks a lot,' she replied. 'By the way, Retsuko told me I can trust the people here, not like in New York. Hope she was right. I'm Hikari Ayame. You?'

She offered him her hand.

'Natsuno,' he whispered. 'Natsuno Koide. I prefer Yuuki,' he said louder.'

They shook hands.

'Okay, Yuuki Koide. Open your eyes next time you ride the bicycle.'

He smirked.

'I will.'

He furled his lips.

'And, if you discover something... no. If I discover something, can I come to you?'

She smiled.

'You're a little detective, aren't you? Well, if you think you're welcomed to the doctor's, then don't hesitate to make me a visit.'

She pierced him with her green emerald eyes.

'I like interesting people.'

She went back in her car, fastened her seatbelt (safety always comes first!), and sped up to the hospital.

Toshio Ozaki.

Hikari repeated in her mind the name Retsuko had told her.


	2. toshio ; the second detective

'WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!'

'Toshio, I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything, but-'

'YOU WORKED BEHIND MY BACK!'

'Toshio, calm down, for God's sake!'

Doctor Toshio Ozaki massaged his forehead with the tip of his fingers. He was wearing his usual outfit; in fact, he was wearing the same clothes as he had done all week — vintage jeans and a yellow T-shirt, seasoned with his white gown. The lack of sleep was visible. His hair was messier, his eye bags bigger and his attempt at a beard even more unsuccessful.

'Okay, Retsuko,' he said, 'tell me more. Give me reasons.'

His favorite nurse (although you wouldn't tell judging by how he spoke to her), Retsuko Kunihiro, squeezed the clipboard with the medical files to her chest. Her long turquoise wavy hair was flowing down her back and shoulders like a waterfall. Her blue eyes sparkled with guilt. She didn't like to act in secret and then watch her friends having to deal with it. In fact, she had never done something like this before.

'Hikari and I were dorm mates in Tokyo for three years, while she was studying Biology in college and I was attending nursing school. She is one year younger than me, so we finished the same year. Then, I came back here to Sotoba. She didn't return to her hometown, Yokohama, though; instead, she decided to move out to New York to do her master's and find a job. Not only is she a well-known biologist who is working in the best laboratories to find the cure to cancer and ebola, but she is also an actress. Regardless of the distance, we kept in touch.'

'Oh, my, Retsuko...' said Kiyomi. 'You never told us you have a famous Japanese-American friend.'

Kiyomi Nagata was a nurse in her early forties. She looked like a potato bag, with her bowl cut hairstyle and big... everything.

Toshio sighed.

'And you didn't think I could handle the patience and uncover the disease on my own, so you gave her a call. And you only told me two minutes ago that she's going to be here in a few seconds.'

'You need help, Doctor. She'll stay at my place, so she won't be a burden. She's the best at what she's doing. I know you two will make a good team and sort this out. We were lucky that when I called her she was already in Japan, visiting her parents.'

'She's right, Doctor,' Kiyomi said. 'Seishin, the monk, is not enough. I know he spends the nights guarding patients here at the clinic, but he is not medically prepared.'

She put her hand on her hips.

'So you'd better act like a gentleman, not a douchebag because this poor girl made all this way from Yokohama to Sotoba only to help us.'

'WHAT?! A DOUCHEBAG YOU SAID?'

'This is the only thing you understood from what I said?!'

They heard a car parking on the front lawn.

'Oh, she's here!' Retsuko exclaimed, clapping her small pale hands. 'I can't believe I'll finally see her again.'

'Dear Lord...' Toshio mumbled.

They went outside. The two ladies sighed when they saw the black Maserati with the silver symbol of Poseidon's trident. Toshio couldn't wait to meet another... well, several words crossed his mind, but let's say it so it's well understood: Toshio couldn't wait to meet another bitch like his wife. A woman who thinks she knows it all and all she wants is fame, money, and freedom to step on whomever she wants because she doesn't care about anyone.

He then said to himself that, if Hikari was Retsuko's friend, she couldn't be that bad. He psychically prepared himself to welcome her warmly, but he still didn't want anyone to stand in its path. Maybe Retsuko's intentions were best, but she had no idea about the truth of the "epidemic". Hikari would definitely be a burden. What the others weren't aware of was that their problem may or may not have been a biological one.

He watched as the girl climbed out of the car. First, a black high-heel ankle boot; then, blue jeans, a black sleeveless crop top, a peach cardigan, a braided tail of pink hair that reached the girl's waist, and ultimately a black brand bag.

Toshio's eyes widened. The girl — who looked like a child among them — had the warmest and most beautiful smile he had ever seen. Even warmer than Retsuko's, and Retsuko was an angel on Earth. But Hikari seemed to smile from the core of her heart, with all her body and being. Her lips had a dull shade of pink. Her eyes shone like two precious emeralds, framed by black eyelashes.

Kiyomi woke him up to reality with a "friendly" punch in his back ribs.

'Just wait 'till Kiyoko arrives,' she said.

Indeed, Kiyoko was Toshio's wife. I wish I could say adoptive wife or step-wife, but, until then, here we are.


	3. hikari ; the third mystery

'Ritsuko! I'm glad to see you!'

They hugged.

'I missed you too, Hikari, but my name is Retsuko.'

Hikari seemed startled. Then she realized her mistake and giggled. She pronounced the name in English.

'Sorry,' she said. 'Apparently, five years in which you speak Japanese only ten minutes a day while on phone with your parents crave a mark.'

Hikari put her bag on her arm, closed the car door, and opened the luggage rack.

'I know you told me you'll borrow some equipment from the hospital in the nearby town,' Hikari said as she opened a black suitcase, 'but I decided to bring just some small new generation gear that could fit in my car.'

Retsuko stared in amazement at the white and black digital microscope, vials, containers, chemist's balloons, test tubes, and boxes that looked like some sort of cardiographs, each of them carefully wrapped in plastic.

Hikari closed the luggage rack and locked the car. She looked back at the "hospital".

'Retsuko, this is not a hospital, it's a clinic.'

'I've never said it's a hospital,' she replied. 'You said.'

Hikari remembered her encounter with the boy. He had clearly moved here from a big city.

'So you don't even have a hospital here?'

'Anyway, it's time for you to meet the doctor and the staff. It's Saturday, so it's only the three of us here.'

ひかり

'Damn, these are good,' Toshio said, carefully disposing the equipment on the table and counters in the spare room of the clinic. It was minimalistic and comfortable, with white furniture and a wooden floor.

'Of course,' she replied. 'Now tell me more. What's the deal? I want to see a death certificate.'

She wasn't blind. She saw clearly Toshio wasn't quite content with this stranger taking his the problem into her own hands.

Toshio lit a cigarette and held out the packet at her. Hikari shook her head.

'Why do chemists and doctors smoke so much? You're supposed to know best what effects this has on you.'

'Yeah, I know, what a bitter irony, isn't it?'

'Sure. Now tell me.'

He leaned his back on the wall and closed his eyes.

'My patients started getting sick and dying this summer in August, two months ago. It begins with anemia, extreme fatigue, drowsiness, pale skin, lethargy, cold sweats, perceptible pulse, resulting in multiple organ failure. Pills and vitamins are all useless. The only thing that actually improves their health is blood transfusion, yet they continue dying anyway.'

He left the room without saying anything. Hikari waited a few seconds before following him. When she was about to exit the door, Toshio returned carrying a dossier and almost bumped into her.

'This is the medical dossier of the most recent victim. Nao Yasumori. Japanese. Female. Twenty-six years old. Mother of a six-year-old, deceased as well.'

Hikari sensed the coldness in his voice. Not only that she couldn't feel any pity from him; moreover, he was talking about her with a faint trace of disgust. Hikari took the papers and had a close look through them. She paid attention, especially to the blood test results.

'Is anyone currently ill?' she asked.

'Yes,' he replied. 'Mikiyasu Yasumori. Nao's husband. He refused to stay at the clinic.'

'Blood samples?' she continued.

'I have one I was intending to send to the laboratory from the village in the proximity.'

'I appreciate that "was" because I'll take care of that now.'

'Do you realize what you're getting yourself into?'

'Of course,' Hikari replied, settling her hair on the right shoulder and playing with it. 'I know it's dangerous. But I don't have how to just leave as if I know nothing. This is serious. People's lives are on the line. Global health is on the line.

Toshio put his hands into the coat pockets.

'Retsuko shouldn't have gotten you into this. It's not fair.'

Hikari couldn't understand why he was so reluctant to let her investigate. 

'What are you hiding?' she asked.

The doctor winced.


	4. toshio ; the fourth misery

No.

No, no, no.

That girl understood nothing.

Another feeling crawled into Toshio's stomach, making him sick. If he didn't find a way to shoo Hikari, she would be killed. She was a promising determined young lady who had a successful life before her, which she'd herself built. It wasn't fair for her to die in this place.

But for the time being, he had to chill and think about a good excuse to make her return home in New York, thousands and thousands of kilometers away from this hell.

Hikari installed the equipment and asked Toshio for the blood, saliva, and urine samples he had taken from his dying childhood friend. He went outside and sit on the bench in front of the clinic. As he lit another cigarette, he saw Muroi coming from the distance.

'Toshio, I need to tell you something about one peculiar Shiki I-'

'Shh,' Toshio scolded him. 'Don't talk so loudly and don't say their name here. You won't believe what Retsuko has done to me.'

Muroi knelt on the grass before Toshio. It's a usual thing for a monk like him, but it's... shady, to say the least. In contrast with Seishin's reverential behavior, Toshio was leaning against the wall of the clinic, with his legs wide open and blowing the smoke in his friend's face.

'The nurse?' Muroi asked fazed.

'She thought I am inutile and brought me a New Yorker chick to find out the cause of this epidemic.'

Muroi blinked.

'But this is not an epidemic,' he pointed out.

'That's exactly the problem, Sherlock.'

'How is she?' he asked.

'Huh?' Toshio said unbelievingly.

'Retsuko surely has a good reason why she called this girl. Is she smart? Does she have faith? Maybe if we tell her-'

'Are you mad or have you smelled too much frankincense?' Toshio interrupted him. 'We aren't going to tell her anything from the exact same reason we haven't tell anyone.'

'Toshio, this village is in the middle of the Apocalypse. It's time to alert the others.'

'My diagnosis is that you have memory loss,' the doctor said, rolling his eyes. 'The villagers don't believe us. We need more than fleeting words — we will capture a Shiki and bring it to the holy altar so everybody can see the truth with their own eyes.'

Muroi frowned.

'Capture one?'

'Tsk. Seishin, you're driving me crazy today! What were you expecting, that I'd ask a Shiki politely to help me uncover their kind to the rest of the village?!'

Muroi stood up.

'Toshio, I...'

He clenched his fists, unable to look his long time friend in the eyes.

'What will you do next?' he asked.

'Hopefully,' Toshio said, 'people will be so angry those Shiki killed their loved ones, we'll begin a rampage to kill them all.'

Toshio was declaring this so calmly, the poor monk couldn't believe his ears. His friend wasn't going to accept that Shikis were beings forgotten by God, who only wanted to stay alive. They had no other option than to kill people. He decided he couldn't trust Toshio to recount Sunako Kirishiki's late-night visits. She would become his main target.

'But before this...'

Toshio barely lifted himself from the bench. He locked eyes with Muroi and syllabized:

'...we need a Shiki to experiment on, so we'll be able to find out their weaknesses. So my next patient that dies...'

Muroi's heart was racing like a cheetah.

'You can't...'

Right when he was about to explain to him why he was behaving like a motherfuckin' douchebag, a red car Toshio knew damn well parked near Hikari's.

'I should leave,' Muroi concluded. 'It seems like you have more trouble to deal with.'

It was more than just one problem — there were actually two ugly problems.

The first: an old lady wearing a black kimono and traditional sandals. Her hair was pulled up in an old fashioned way that made her look even more like the witch she was.

The second: a thirty-year-old blonde lady wearing a short pink dress.

Muroi left the clinic and ran into the woods so the old hug wouldn't spot him.

'You're kidding me,' Toshio said, being done with everything and everyone.

'Darling,' called out his wife. 'I'm back!'

'TOSHIO!' yelled his mother. 'WHY IS THERE A STRANGER IN MY HOUSE? WHO IS THIS CHICK?'

'What?!' said his wife. 'Do you bring girls here while I'm away?'

Toshio barely resisted the urge to strangle himself with the stethoscope.


	5. hikari ; the fifth liar

'Toshio's family is savage. And not in a good way.'

Retsuko giggled in her angelic characteristic way.

'Yes, they are a little bit—'

'Mad? Insane? Madly insane? Insanely mad?' Hikari tried to fill in. 'Maybe even a bit stupid... at least his wife.'

'HIKARI! It's not nice to talk like that,' Retsuko scolded her. 'Besides, they could hear you.'

'Ok, ok,' Hikari replied, holding her hands in the air as if she was surrendering. 'Just my opinion.'

Hikari glared at her laptop and pressed some keys on the keyboard.

'What do the DNA test results say?' Retsuko asked.

'Hold your horses,' Hikari said, stretching her hands above her head. 'It's only been a few hours. I need time at least until tomorrow.'

Hikari sat down on the work table and took out her phone. Silence settled between them as she switched some minutes between TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter.

'Um,' said Retsuko awkwardly, unused to someone suddenly ignoring her like that, 'I think I should bring you something to eat.'

Hikari tossed her phone in the back pocket of her jeans.

'Now that you've mentioned food, I'm starving. Could I maybe take it to my room? I really don't wanna see any of the Ozaki ladies.'

Retsuko smiled benevolently. She hadn't seen her friend in ages! At some point, she hadn't even thought she would get to meet her in person ever again. Her youth and energy were the same as ever. She was still a child, and Retsuko felt more like an aunt to her rather than a friend.

The nurse made some sandwiches for Hikari and brought them to her new room. As Hikari began to unpack her clothes and arrange them in the wardrobe, Toshio called out:

'Retsuko! Ms. Ayame!'

Hikari rolled her eyes. She grabbed a sandwich and opened the door.

'I can't believe you already started the DNA testing,' Toshio said, standing by the doorcase.

'Well, I didn't leave my parents two weeks earlier to go sightseeing in this village forgotten by God. From what Retsuko told me, what's happening here is huge. One should never underestimate the magnitude of a biological disaster. This could turn out to be nothing. Or a brilliant discovery that will bring me the Oscar. Or the start of the second Black Death.'

'Sure...' Toshio replied, maybe a little bit too fast after Hikari's imposing speech, knowing well the last option was the most accurate. 'Retsuko, take care of the clinic. Kiyomi left already. I'm going downtown. Apparently, there were discovered two bodies.'

Toshio was ready to leave, but Hikari stopped him.

'Wait a minute. Does it have anything to do with this virus outbreak?'

Toshio didn't really know what to say, because there was no virus at all. 'Possibly.'

'Then I'm coming,' she decided.

Toshio laughed. 'And do what?'

Hikari glared at him. 'I don't know what being a doctor is like, but being a biologist opens countless doors. I've worked in any possible environment. I've helped police catch murderers and rapists based on DNA and I've traveled to Egypt to identify Tuthankamun's grandmother. So, yeah, I'm coming.'

Hikari finished her sandwich.

'Let me grab the portable DNA testing set and my camera. Your car or mine?'

Toshio didn't have a car. He had a bike and a van. His wife had a car.

'Yours,' he replied plainly. 'Do you mind me driving?'

'Okay.' She went to the other room to take her things. 'It's automatic.'

Toshio had never driven an automatic car before. Hikari put her coat on and the bag on her shoulder.

'Shall we?' she asked.

'Yes,' Toshio said. 'I-I think you should drive. I will guide you. There is no way you can get lost in Sotoba.'

As they got out of the house, Toshio rushed her.

'Come on, let's leave already.'

But it was too late. His wife had already spotted them.

'Toshio!'

Hikari loved drama, but the quality one, so she got into her car, put her key into contact, and waited here for the doctor.

'Kiyoko... glad to see you home. If you don't mind, I have to go—'

'With a girl? Toshio, I don't know what you're up to, but you will destroy our family reputation if you are seen with her!'

Toshio rolled his eyes. He wanted to tell her that his reputation had died the day he had married her.

'Kiyoko, what age do you think she is?' he asked.

'I-I...' She was startled. 'Maybe twenty?'

'Close enough. She's twenty-seven. If anything I can say she's my niece or something. She can easily pass as a young girl. Now, if this is your only concern regarding me, I'd better go.'

He didn't wait for her to reply. He ran to the car and occupied the seat next to the driver. Hikari left at full speed, drowning Kiyoko's yells in the dust.

'Lovely woman,' Hikari decided.


	6. toshio ; the sixth book of the dead

'We're here,' Toshio announced. 'This is the house.'

They were both glad to get out of the car. They had driven in deadly silence, broken only by Toshio's indications. Hikari took her camera and the portable DNA testing kit.

'Finally...'

The police had already marked the crime scene with yellow tape. They saw the two corpses of two old people — a male and a female — through the open door, lying in the house, near the entrance.

In a village like Sotoba, all the people know each other. The police officer was an old friend of Toshio. Toshio explained to him why they were here, using the plague story.

'I see...' the police officer said. 'But, do you have any experience with this?'

'I've examined dead bodies before,' Hikari told him. 'In New York, I used to work with detective John Kelly.'

The officer's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

'The John Kelly?! The guy on TV?'

Hikari glared at him.

'You know him? And watch his show on "Crime&Investigation"?'

She had no idea someone from Japan might know him. John Kelly was the most famous American detective. He had solved hundreds of cases, his memory was perfect and his wisdom was undeniable.

'Of course! Now that I think about it, I believe he mentioned your name in one of the episodes... Come in, come in already! You're more than welcomed to investigate!'

Toshio laughed and lit another cigarette. He had to admit, he was impressed.

'You're indeed full of surprises, miss,' he told her.

'Well, you barely met me hours ago and already tried to get rid of me,' she replied bitterly. 'Yeah, I daresay there are certain things you don't know about me.'

They knelt at the two corpses. Hikari decided to take some pictures first. She photographed the bodies and the shreds of evidence marked with black numbers on yellow plastic cards. Then she collected some samples — blood, nails, hairs, mucosity.

The bodies were highly dehydrated, to the point she barely got a vial of blood. She took a knife and slit the woman's wrist. The blood was not pouring. She tried again on various other body parts and realized the victims' fluids had been drained. The only clues were two mosquito bites on their necks.

Of course, Toshio knew about the vampire bites and was definitely not gonna tell her. An idea bloomed inside Toshio's mind as he watched the girl examining the corpses with the cold interest that you would see only at the best scientists: I wonder... could she figure this shit out herself?

'You're Retsuko's friend,' Toshio said.

'Well, yeah, I thought it was clear,' she replied without taking her eyes off her work.

'You're not gonna give up on trying to help this village,' he stated.

'No, I'm not,' she agreed.

'Then let's see how good of a detective you are, miss.'

If a fierce look could set people on fire, Toshio would have already turned to ashes.

'Is this a game?' she asked. 'I swear to Gods, if you know more than you've told me so far, I'm packing my things, going back home and announcing the FBI, because I can do it.'

Okay, now Toshio definitely had no choice. He gazed at the two cops that were chatting behind them and lowered his voice:

'I can't help but remark you said "Gods" instead of "God". Although you're wearing a silver cross around your neck, I don't think you're a stranger to paganism.'

Hikari tucked the cross under her blouse.

'I don't really care about religion. But polytheism is cooler. Christians are like: "God is perfect, Jesus died for us so we can go to heaven, this guy was about to murder his only son in the name of God", while the ancient Greeks were like: "Okay, cool, so we have a virgin mother Goddess, a God of parties and wine, and, oh, the king God has an affair a day".

She said all this while finishing collecting the DNA samples. She put everything in her bag and stood up.

'What's your opinion on demons, witches, vampires, and other fantastic creatures?'

They said goodbye to the cops and proceeded to the car.

'I don't have a damn idea,' she finally said. 'Why? You're starting to scare me and I can assure you it's not easy frightening a woman from New York.'

They occupied their seats in the car and fixed their seatbelts. Toshio listened to the sound of the engine coming back to life and thought: Fuck this shit, let's give it a shot.

'What would you say if I told you the village has been invaded by demons?' he asked her.

He was looking straight forward, through the windshield. Hikari widened her eyes and pierced him with her look.

'What proof do you have?' she asked after half a minute of silence.


	7. hikari ; the seventh psycho

Hikari was vexed by Toshio, to say the least.

'You have exactly five minutes to convince me you're not insane so I don't call the cops on you,' she decided.

Toshio started counting all the supernatural events that led him to the conclusion the village had been invaded by Shiki — corpse demons, or simply put, vampires.

There was a silent war going on inside Hikari. On the one hand, she was lured by the perspective of finally getting insight into death and spirit matters. On the other hand, she was pretty sure Toshio was making fun of her. And she really didn't want to be filmed with a hidden camera and uploaded on YouTube.

'Assuming I do trust you, I need evidence. Something I can see, touch, hear. Just anything. If I believe you, I will help you save your village from these so-called demons. Deal?'

***

That was a deal.

That day, Nao's mother was brought to the clinic. She had been bitten by vampires and Toshio had decided to keep her close — for her safety and Hikari's demonstration. When day turned into night, the doc called Seishin.

'Here goes nothing,' Hikari mumbled as the three of them sat comfortably outside granny's room, waiting for God knows what.

The hours were passing by and Hikari was running out of battery on her phone.

'So...' Seishin said after what seemed like an eternity, 'you live alone in New York? We have reasons to believe the vampires have some sort of black market in the big cities of the world where they sell humans kidnapped from villages.'

'Living in a big city makes you not give a fuck about demons, ghosts, entities et cetera. Because the scariest things out there are the humans. So I—'

A loud bump! echoed from granny's room. It seemed like something — or someone — huge hit the window. They hustled inside, where Nao's mother was ready to commit suicide.

'NO!' Hikari yelled, waking granny up from her delirium. She stepped down from the window sill, as Hikari was trying to reassure her.

'It's okay, it's okay,' she repeated. 'Come here, come to me.'

Toshio rushed to the window and screamed into the night:

'THIS IS MY TERRITORY! LEAVE ME AND MY PATIENTS ALONE ONCE AND FOR ALL!'

Hikari fished her phone from her coat pocket and typed 911, then threw her phone in the hospital bedroom, remembering this wouldn't help her deal with this crazy man.

She carefully stepped towards Toshio. He was seething. She gently put her hand on his shoulders and was about to try to speak him out of his illusions.

'Hey, mother...' a siren voice called from the ground.

Hikari was speechless. A woman with two black holes where the eyes were supposed to fly towards them. Hikari stumbled back in amazement and hit the desk beside the bed. A framed picture fell on the floor and the glass broke. With shaking hands, Hikari picked it up and gawked at the blue-haired lady from the photo. Nao. She should have been dead. Yet, here she was, alive and imponderable.

Seishin ran out of the room and down the hallway. Fazed, Hikari sped up after him. They stopped the last moment and remained at the doorsill at the main entrance of the clinic. Outside, Nao and other five vampires were gathered in the garden. A girl with pink hair and a dress that kinda resembled Hikari approached them.

From what she could remember from the vampire stories she had heard and from the creatures' behavior, Hikari figured out they couldn't trespass a residence without permission. Still, every cell of her body wanted to run away and hide under a blanket when the pink-haired raised her chin with two cold fingers. Hikari grabbed her wrist — no pulse indeed.

Meanwhile, Nao had recovered her mother. All the vampires assaulted and sucked her blood at once. Seishin stood there and watched the gruesome scene. For once in her life, Hikari did not have the guts. She returned to the room Nao's mom had stayed in, feeling empty and sick.

Toshio was smoking in his characteristic style, with his back against the wall. He did not show any kind of emotion.

'Now... do you trust me?' he asked.

The fright and shock overwhelmed Hikari. She slid down on the white floor, wondering how she got herself in this situation in the first place. Her dead eyes focused on the broken family photo. She was trying not to burst into tears.

'It's okay,' Toshio said. 'You can leave. Save yourself.'


	8. toshio ; the eighth flame

Hikari woke up around 6 AM, kicking the blanket off her. Her skin was cold and sweaty. She was almost hyperventilating. For a minute, she tried to figure out if all the vampire thing had been a dream or not. Still breathing with difficulty, she ran out of the building, into the garden.

She breathed in deeply the cold, fresh air — something she could hardly do in New York. There were no lights on the country road. Everything was dark and peaceful. Then she heard a car speeding up. Two white dots came closer and closer until the lights blinded her. The car stopped abruptly on Toshio's front lawn.

A tall, muscular boy with blue hair opened the driver's door. He was wearing a tracksuit and black boots. Hikari's eyes adjusted to the light just in time to see the fashion icon before her.

'Are those... real ears?' was the first thing Hikari could say to the stranger.

The boy's pointy cat-like ears shuddered as if they were antennae.

'Um... yeah. Also, I'm so so sorry for the derangement I have caused. But I've just arrived here and I am a little lost.'

Hikari looked at him in disbelief.

'You must be kidding. There is literally a single main street in this whole damn village. Follow it until you arrive at a crossroad. On your left is the village; on the left is a gigantic Victorian mansion.'

The boy's eyes lit up in excitement.

'Exactly the mansion I was looking for! Thanks a lot!'

Hikari sighed.

'My name is Tatsumi, by the way,' he said, holding out his hand.

'I'm Hikari,' she replied shaking it.

Tatsumi studied her clothes from head to toes. Hikari was only dressed in a white undershirt and black leggings.

'May I ask you why you're out here alone in your pajamas?'

'No, you may not.' She crossed her hands over her chest. 'And your car is violating the perimeter of the clinic, so I have to ask you to leave.'

'S-Sorry again,' he said, bowing before her at a perfect ninety degrees angle, like an authentic Japanese. 'But it breaks my heart to leave beautiful damsels in distress at the mercy of night. There are a lot of creatures wandering around here.'

Hikari headed for the clinic.

'Who the fuck told you I'm a damsel in distress? I can take good care of myself, thank you very much. I shouldn't be comfortable staying here with an unknown man.'

She stumbled towards the house, shut the door behind her, and fell to her knees, wondering that the hell had just happened.

***

The next morning, Hikari wasn't sure what to do. If she stayed in her room, the others would think she was still asleep. But if she started wandering around by herself, there was a good chance she would stumble over one of the Ozaki bitches.

Finally, she cautiously opened the door and went with big and light steps to the room where Toshio was examining his patients. Right when she closed the door, a high-pitched female voice called from behind her.

'But who do we have here?'

She turned around and had the honor of standing face to face with no one other than Toshio's wife. She was dressed in a short yellow dress, her hair almost the same high as her pumps.

'Good morning, ma'am,' Hikari said. 'May I help you?'

'You should understand I don't like a beautiful young girl living in my house alongside my husband.'

'Ma'am, thank you for the compliment, but we're almost the same age.'

'Do your job and leave this house as soon as possible.'

Hikari's blood pressure started raising. She stepped towards the lady, her fists clenched. Her nails were digging into her skin, restraining her from doing something she would regret. She may have been a daredevil, she may have been the type of person that didn't care what other thought of her and that was always speaking up her mind, but she knew when to shut up and walk away. She couldn't get on this woman's nerves, or Toshio's mother would make her leave.

'Ma'am,' she said, looking up to meet her eyes, 'I'm a scientist, not a whore. I'm gonna do my job, and I'm gonna do it well. And I'm gonna leave to New York, and you're gonna remain here.'

She spoke softly, carefully, almost breathing out the words. Kiyoko's eyes widened. Before she could say anything, the door opened and Toshio entered. He stopped abruptly, gazing at the two women and expecting the worst scenario.

'I made up my mind,' Hikari announced. 'I'm gonna help you, then I'm gonna return home.'

Translation: I'm gonna help you save your village from the grip of these vampires. And I'm gonna make it out alive.


	9. hikari ; the ninth killer

After such a nice dialogue, Hikari grabbed her coffee and sat down to drink on the bench, in the garden. Again, something she hadn't done in a billion years — savoring her coffee with only green grass and trees surrounding her, her hair scattered by the mild wind, the infinite blue sky above her.

Hikari was about to choke when she saw Tatsumi, the guy from last night, coming towards her. She had had enough unfortunate encounters with strange men in New York to know this was a good moment to take her gun out of the bag... bag which was inside.

'Hey there!' Tatsumi greeted her.

Hikari sat up and approached him.

'Are you stalking me? Cause in this case I'm calling the cops!'

Tatsumi waved his hands before him as if trying to shoo the thought away.

'No, no, no! Please, don't get me wrong.' He paused. 'You're new in this village, aren't you?'

Hikari didn't reply.

'Of course you are!' he concluded with a smile. 'Look, I'm a stranger here too. I've just moved here from a big town, so I know how you feel towards people you don't know. But all the fright, anxiety, and resentments you might have had towards neighbors are gone now. Here, people trust each other. We are safe in Sotoba.'

Hikari laughed bitterly.

'Safety... right, right. Nice word, I don't know her.'

'The idea is,' Tatsumi continued, 'I was worried about you. Last night you were alone in the dark, sweating and scared.'

Hikari put her hands above her hips.

'Well, thanks for checking up on me, but I'm fine. I'm really not comfortable talking to strangers, so...'

'Then let's not be strangers anymore! Let's be friends!'

He stretched out his arms as if he was waiting for a hug.

'Like, when we were kids and we would ask random children from the park if they wanted to be friends with us?'

'Yeah, why not? Here everyone is friends with everyone So, do you wanna be my friend?'

He held out his hand.

'Fine... gods, this is strange...'

Hikari shook his warm hand again.

'Only if you make it that way.'

'Says the one who is stalking me!'

Hikari's voice cracked, like she was joking, which made Tatsumi grin.

'I won't come to your place anymore if you don't want me to, I promise! Maybe you wanna meet up at the café or something.'

'You're asking me out now.'

'Well, you didn't ask me to come in, so I'm asking you to come out!'

Hikari managed to smile.

'Fine! And you can come inside, it's the only clinic in the village, so I—'

'So you give me permission to enter the house?'

'If it's fine for the doc, then I'm good. But don't let this get to your head. Don't come too often, really.'

Tatsumi smirked and left. He had already got what he wanted.

***

Hikari waited for the last patient to leave the room, then she entered and locked the door behind her. Toshio was sitting on a short chair without a backrest, the bags under his eyes almost reaching the floor.

'So, what's the plan?'

'The plan?'

'We're both smart, ambitious, and persuasive. All we need is a plan and all the Shiki are as good as dead.'

'You seem very optimistic.'

'Why not, after all? Being pessimistic won't bring us the victory.'

Toshio turned her back on her. Hikari thought that, if he had done this with his mother, she would have strangled her son.

'Well, there is something that was bothering me... But Seishin wouldn't help me.'

'I don't really know this Seishin, but I'm pretty sure you don't need him. What do you need?'

Toshio stood up and slowly walked towards the window. He remained there, his gaze lost in the woods.

'Well, there are a lot of stories about vampires and how to kill them. But how can we know for sure they're true? The only way to find out once and for all how the anatomy of Shiki works is to—'

'Examine one.'

'Dissect one,' he corrected her.

Hikari's remembered how she had refused to dissect frogs in middle and high school. Strangely enough, she didn't feel the same repulsion now. Frogs are innocent little creatures. Vampires are not. Humans are not.

'We need to catch one,' she said.' But how? They have supernatural strength and speed. We would be lucky to get out alive from an encounter with one.'

'You're right, we can't catch a Shiki. But I wasn't thinking about this. My plan is to keep the next patient that is bitten by a vampire here, at the clinic. Not to try to heal them. We will let the Shiki come and finish their job. Then the patient dies and we simply wait for them to awaken.'

Hikari stared at him for a couple of seconds, her eyes widened. She thought about her conversation with Tatsumi.

'Toshio, this is not New York. Almost all the people that come to your clinic are your neighbors, people you spent your childhood with. Are you sure you can do this?'

Tosho turned around to face her. His eyes lost all their natural glint. When he spoke, his voice was distant and sour, as if he was possessed by a demon.

'Are you sure you can do this with me?'


End file.
